Just a bit of Friendly Competition
by GettingTraught
Summary: The League decides that the best way to push their young sidekicks is by stirring up some good ole' fashioned friendly competition! A series of challenges meant to pull out the very best(or was it the worst...) in the teens, and really when getting out of training is at stake the teens are willing to do most anything to win! Rated T for Language, and maybe some romantic stuff later
1. Friendly Competition

**Hey all, another Young Justice story, humorous of course, with interaction from the whole team since the sleepover in 'Childhood Night' went over so well! Of course, as always, I own nothing. Nada, zilch even. Please review and enjoy!**

* * *

Nothing's wrong with a little friendly competition. _Absolutely nothing._

In fact the Justice League had decided that friendly competition was exactly what their children needed. The Team spent so much time arguing, fighting, and belittling each other that they hardly worked as a team anymore. One might ask how competition would help such a situation?

Competition would determine drive the teens to work harder, train more, and think outside the box to beat their teammates….so maybe it wouldn't help them get along but it wa sure to help the missions get completed more efficiently and really, in the end, wasn't that what really mattered? Batman and the League decided it sure was.

The League decided on a 'set up' for these competitions that were to come. They would leave a notice on the mission board detailing what needed to occur, and then the children would follow through on the orders. It was simple. So very simple. The adults were so proud to have figured out a method of administering the challenges, now came the hard part. How to judge winners….

"Simple." Stated Batman with a smirk. "We have a scoreboard with all their names on it, we rank them one through eight in order of placement or on how we think they did. The ranking will be posted for them to see and the top four will get some sort of prize while the bottom four will have some punishment or another. Simple."

"…..he's brilliant." the Man of Steel murmured to no one in particular, and the other Leaguers had to agree with him. It was a flawless system to work with. And so It was put into action.

* * *

Robin was the first to stumble upon the instructions for the challenges as he most often was the one to check for missions. "HEY YOU GUYS- GET IN THE DEBRIEFING ROOM THERE IS A NEW ASPECT IN OUR LIVES THAT I AM SURE YOU WILL ALL FIND VERY IMPORTANT." No one came. Now when Robin called, he expected an answer. More specifically he expected eight teens to come rushing to his side to eagerly see what he needed. He was vastly disappointed. "GUUUUUUUUUUUU-UUUUUUUUUUUUUYSSSSSSSSSS…" still no reply. Not even the rush of footsteps. Robin sighed, shaking his head as he scrolled through the stereo system for the cave. "I hate to do this to them…" with the click of a button the cave was flooded with the melodious masterpiece that was 'Shots' sung by the king of song himself. Lil' Jon.

The clambering of several people could be heard along with a series of crashes that resounded through the cave. Robin grinned, hearing the pitter patter of little hero feet.

"It's not Friday why is he playing the drinking song-"

"Don't say that out loud the League doesn't know—"

"Yes because the song that starts with 'Ya'll ready to get fucked up' is gonna signal our tea time? They know-"

"I DON'T HAVE ANY PANTS ON IS THAT ALRIGHT?"

"Do we need seven or eight glasses- oh no I left the stove on!"

"….I have never understood why but this song gives me the urge to gyrate…"

"Save your gyrations for another time Kal we have some bottles to pop!—- Waaaaaaait…..Rob why do you look like you're in mission mode not party mode?" questioned Wally with the lift of his neon flashing sunglasses. "Bro, you can't abuse the signal like that…Conner's not wearing pants for god's sake we can't do a mission when he doesn't have any pants on…..not cool…"

The bird in question simply shrugged, grinning as he turned the volume off, though not turning it off all the way. "I needed you guys in here, as any fluent english speakers will see we've been issued a…a quest of sorts by the League…"

He was right of course. Projected onto the screen that usually housed mission details were the following set of instructions:

'Hey there Team! We, the Illustrious almighty and good Justice League have decided that you guys need a challenge! Several challenges in fact! And wouldn't you believe it we have a solution! Each day this week we're going to give you instructions, you will get this— follow them! We'll be watching on the security cameras to rank you, and your rankings will be revealed the next morning! Since Roy is with you this week- the top four players will be excused from training all next week, the bottom four scorers will be forced to do all the chores around the cave and also will be taunted with their failures as long as they so shall live. Fun right? We thought it'd be a blast. -Lots of Love, The Flash (and the Justice League)'

Wally grinned. "Challenges huh? Let's do this, we all know Robin, Roy, Kal and I will be the top players since we've been in the hero biz the longest, no offense Supes you're only a few months old so you get stuck in the bottom with the girls…."

"Well, you might want to read today's challenge before you get to cocky Wally, you may be at a disadvantage in today's competition. It says, we're to, 'Figure out the most intense push up and do as many as you can.' when competing with someone with super strength, a gymnast and two archers, your upper body strength may not be up to par." spoke Kaldur calmly.

"Ha- hear that kid mouth..'your upper body strength may not be up to par' weren't you just complaining the other day in training that you got tired of regular pushups after like fifty?" Artemis smirked at him, almsot skipping past him down the hall.

"To the training room!" declared Robin and soon two archers, a speedster, a martian, a kryptonian clone man-baby, a magician, a bird, and an atlantean were all out of the room…though Lil' Jon and his shots continued to play.

* * *

"First things first we have to decide upon what 'the most intense' pushup means. I vote one handed claps, maybe legs crossed as well." Spoke Roy as he casually took off his shirt, in preparation for the challenge. No self respecting man would do push ups with a shirt on, that's for sure. Kaldur and Conner followed his lead…besides, Conner never really liked shirts much. They were just…too much.

"No no no no, let's just do regular push ups. See who's really the best, no gimmicks!" chirped Megan while placing a hand on Wally's shoulder. "Then it'll be fair."

"Fair Shmair- we're doing vertical pushups on the bars!" Declaired Robin with a grin. The Archers grinned as well, but the other four looked rather confused as to what he meant. Vertical, push ups, bars, he'd lost them completely. He sighed seeing their confusion. "I'll explain, you go onto on of the bars, get into like, a handstand, then push up except your body is over your hands instead of sideways of…are you smelling what Wally's stepping in?"

"That sounds brutal-" said Zatanna with a small pout. "This is so rigged…."

"Actually if their was rigging it'd be a lot easier and falling wouldn't be an issue-" replied a smug Robin. Oh he was smug, this challenge was his. First place was his. It was all his.

"Whatever, let's just do this before Kal makes me put pants on." muttered Conner as he approached the bars. The rest followed after him, Robin stopped by the chalk box, covering his hands in it, Kaldur, Artemis and Roy followed suit, the others went straight to the bars.

"There are two bars, so we'll do four people on each bar….regular people on one bar, so that's Roy, Artemis, Robin, and for this challenge Wally, the rest of us will be on the other." instructed Kaldur as he grasped the bar and began hoisting himself up.

Megan had smiled quite happily, she would just fly, and grab onto the bar and there would be no problems. She even flew and grabbed the bar from a position already in the air, much to the exasperation of her teammates.

Conner grunted, grabbing the bar with a grunt as he sort of threw his lower body forward flinging himself into the upright position. He gritted his teeth but was settled into the handstand position, bagging on his superhuman strength.

Kaldur of course, the most honorable of men, didn't have a crafty plan and just planned on doing some intense vertical pushups…he pulled himself onto the bar flexing his toes in preparation for the balancing act he was going to have to manage.

Zatanna had gotten her idea from Megan, murmuring a hex that would flip just her gravity for the time being. She didn't know about pushups, but public school had shown she could do half assed pull-ups for days. She grabbed the bar as she almost plummeted towards the ceiling, grinning as she was able to just hang there.

"Bunch of cheaters…" said Roy with a scowl. He pulled himself up, the toned arms and rather..beefy shoulders he'd developed doing archery his entire life serving him well. He shot a glare to the 'super powered' bar. "No sense of pride in natural skill."

Robin grinned. "They're just playing the game, just playing it. Like you, like me, like Wally played your mom last night- we're all just playin'!" He flipped up onto the bars as if he'd spent his life doing it…which in fact- he had!

"My mom's dead." scowled Roy.

"Way to kill the mood…" said Wally with a gulp as he shakily managed to pull himself up onto the bar. He sat there for a second before carefully- oh so carefully pushing himself into the ready position.

Artemis rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up with little complaint from voice or body. She like Roy, had those oh so sexy archer arms, though her decision of loose crop top had left her with a sports bra doing the job of shirt and the shirt doing the job of 'blind Artemis and get tangled in hair' She slipped it off, putting her weight on one arm then the other to drop it to the ground. "Let's do this."

"Alright, to be fair, I say it's whoever can stay up the longest while still doing pushups, so find a steady pace and stick with that. This is duration of time not number of pushups. Three…two…one…GO!" Kaldur started them off, and soon the eight were pushing (or in Zatanna's case pulling) themselves.

Grunts, occasional swears, or a hiss of disapproval would escape the lips of one or all of the members( except Megan who was doing no work, and Robin who lived for this). It was a bit surprising that they'd all managed to last about five minutes. Though at that point the team did what they did best. They started cheating.

Wally was the most desperate, and the first to stoop to that level. He knew he was going down, he knew very well. And so instead of just falling he used what little arm strength he had to throw himself into Megan and Zatanna..causing them to fall up while he hit the ground with a thud.

"NOT FAIR-" shrieked the girls in tandem-

"There are no rules against it, you two are no longer doing pushups, you're out. Fair and square." Wally grinned. "besides you two started off with a Cheap shot by using powers…"

No one could really argue with that, but it did inform the other five on the bars that now it was time to pull out the big guns. How much could you fight while being on your hands on top of a bar while pushing yourself up and down? They were about to discover.

Robin leaned over to the two archers on the bar beside him, speaking in a hushed whisper. "We're taking out the supers first, they're emotionally weak where we are strong. They can't handle this kind of pressure…and if the stress doesn't get to them…your feet could like- 'accidently' sway their direction and knock their balance off but…you didn't hear that from me-!"

"No of course not we heard that from the mystical eagle spirit who guides our life…" choked out Roy through gritted teeth with a roll of his eyes. This statement caused Artemis to choke, almost losing her grip.

"You and your Native American spiritualisms…Christ Roy next thing you know you'll be in here dancing with a medicine man in no more than a deer skin pelt…" she retorted, righting her balance with a relieved sigh.

Robin found this endlessly amusing, and cackled to himself like he was being tickled by mysterious forces- he wasn't…he was simply…really amused.

"Hey Conner, don't you feel your hands starting to give?" Called a smirking Artemis.

He snorted, shooting a glare towards his hands, just in case they felt like betraying him or something. " 'Course not..super Strength, I could do this for days…"

Robin saw where she was going with this. "Yeah we get that big guy, but you skipped number one rule of working on the bars."

Roy sighed, deciding maybe working with the two other regular teens was his best option. "You forgot to chalk." and before another jab at the superboy could be made he tipped a leg forward and his Conner's foot, knocking the teen off balance. Between the oh so helpful tip of the archers foot and the sweat soaked palms Conner had he went sliding off with a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.

"Final four- woo! Sorry Kal, you're next!" Cheered Robin, he lifted one hand, easily doing the pushups with only one arm, and reached into his personal bag of chalk at his hip. He flung the handful into Kaldur's face.

The poor atlantean, the poor trusting- honorable- only one to not even help someone to cheat- atlantean, burst into a laughing fit and was easily pushed over with a swift kick from Artemis to the back of his leg. He fell, coughing and looking rather dejected. "Th-that was.." coughing fit here. "Really" cough "Cheap" cough "Don't you think…" he choked out rather sadly.

"Age before beauty~" cued Artemis with a chilling smirk, she leaned over and bit Roy's wrist, which caused the red headed Archer to shriek and flinch away with a grunt..which gave Robin on his other side the opportunity to push his torso forward.

"Oh no you don't-" Roy grabbed onto Robin's arm and Artemis's hair and dragged them both down with him. He also managed to hit his face directly on the bar and now had a bloody nose.

with the following cries of. "Not cool-" and "You bitch-" the final three were all down and the competition was over. Well, today's round at least.

"I wonder if there'll be points for strategy and tactic or just who lasted longest…." mused Zatanna with a sigh.

"we'll just have to wait and see…" said Kaldur with a nod as he finally finished wiping the last of the chalk out of his face.

Artemis helped Robin to his feet and the two grinned down at the red haired archer. "Try not to get blood on anything Roy-Joy, the eagle spirit might not be to pleased…" spoke the girl with a chuckle.

He glared up at her, rising to his feet with a huff, his hand cupped over his nose to try and staunch the flow. "I will bleed on everything you love."

* * *

Later that evening, all had retired to their own rooms. Settling in for sleep after a tiring day of cheating at doing hardcore pushups. Life was difficult.

Robin had made up his mind, and summoned Artemis and Roy into his room with a text, and soon the three no powered teens were sitting crosslegged on the Boy wonder's bed, though the younger two were still snickering at Roy's nose which was now swollen and deep purple.

"We're going to make an alliance. We're going to help each other and take the top three spots every challenge, then over all no matter what we're all free to do as we please, it's fool proof. Now leave before you open those pretty little mouths of yours and make me regret it!" and as soon as he had called him in, Robin was shoving them off his bed onto the floor. "Leave me. Unless you're looking for someone to show you a good time- but that'd be weird for Arty and illegal I think for Roy so I stand by what I said first…..LEAVE ME-" he ushered the Archers out the door with a shove.

"He's so fucking weird…" muttered Artemis. Roy could only nod and agree for once.

* * *

**What's this? Alliances made? Challenges complete? Hard evidence that Wally has noodle arms? It appears that all of occurred. **

**And with that chapter one is done, in chapter two- the rankings will be revealed, the Mentors reactions will be given, and a new challenge issued. **

**Reviews are what give me life, you like it? Great- write a review please! You hate it? ****Great- write a review please! You want to make a suggestion about plot, pairings or anything like that? ****Great- write a review please!...I like reviews...**

**I hope you've enjoyed it, it's been a concept I've been cooking up for a while...**

**~GettingTraught**


	2. Hide and Seek

**CHAPTER TWO. The game shall be announced, or if you can read chapter title's I guess you already know... School's been throwing me a curveball lately so sorry for spotty posting. Anyway, I still own nothing, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"…..I can't believe I'm in last place…." murmured the resident speedster with a dejected huff. "This is so rigged- who even does push ups?!-"

"Stop complaining because you have the upper body strength of a new born." chided Roy with a smirk. "It's not our fault you skip arm day…actually, do you even work out or do you just rely on your superpowers?"

Wally's face was rivaling his hair on levels of 'redness', but he fumed silently, not really wanting to incriminate himself farther by saying something dumb.

The teens stared at the glowing list of placement, some rather satisfied with the results. Others of course as the speedster had demonstrated, were less than pleased with their ranking.

'1st: Robin

2nd: Artemis

3rd: Roy

4th: Kaldur

5th: Conner

6th: Megan

7th: Zatanna

8th: Wally'

Robin snickered at his best friend's misery, shooting highly conspiratorial looks to Roy and Artemis. The blonde just rolled her eyes and Roy gave a slight nod in return. His team was ready, and he would lead them to victory.

Zatanna had witnessed this exchange of glances and found herself growing…suspicious. She grabbed Megan by the arm and pulled her aside, a frown etched into her charming features. "Megs, I think Robin has some sort of agreement with Roy and Artemis, and I don't like it. Now they have brain, brawn and good looks on their side…and Roy, though I'm sure he's good for something…I mean he's got those arms for days…. like- girl just let me be a koala and get all up on those tree trunks, damn-"

"Uh Zatanna, what do you think we should do about this? I doubt we could get them to break the agreement….do you wanna be partners? Magic and my powers give us a pretty good chance, as long as we don't get caught by someone's dirty tricks again…" suggested Megan with a smile.

"You're brilliant- we'll be unstoppable and then no training! It's perfect!~" Zatanna grabbed the martian, squeezing her in a bone crushing hug with a squeal of delight. No training was the best training. And that was a fact.

* * *

The League sat in their 'lounge' watching the security cameras of the cave as a sort of reality tv show.

"They got cut throat really fast…maybe they didn't really need this encouragement, one day in and we have two alliances already…they're smarter than they look." said Black Canary with a hint of admiration in her voice as she leaned against GA. "I'm almost proud…"

Batman nodded in agreement, looking like quite the proud Daddy-Bat at his underhanded ever plotting baby bird. "Yes, they show great potential at…making sure that if they lose they're taking others down with them. It's nearly admirable, but we need another challenge for them. Something to test these new 'teams' they've created…something to push them to their limits. Something that will push them to their emotional limits…test their friendships…"

"I will find them."

the rest of the room stared rather concernedly at Superman and his simple yet confusing statement. Batman was the one to break the silence of concern. "What do you mean you will find them? They aren't lost….they're actually right there, you just…just look at the screen.."

The Man of Steel grinned. "Hide and Seek. I go in, you guys put the cave into lockdown. I go in, no powers, I'll be the seeker. The order they're found in is what they'll be ranked by. It's flawless."

"…..what if they try to kill you Clark. Did you think of that? They're cut throat…if they kill you, you can't find them…."

* * *

"So what happens if we just take him out before he can find anyone…it could be a clean job, just lock him in a room with some kryptonite and go on our merry way."

"Wally did you just suggest we kill Superman?" demanded Megan with a cry of disdain.

"….no, of course not…I would never..that's…that's ridiculous Megalicious, where would you get that Idea…heh, heh…yup.." he popped the 'P' and looked rather dejected…again, it was just…not his day. That was for sure.

"Well, the screen has a timer on it now and it's counting down from five minutes, so I assume that's when he enters the Cave. I suppose that means we hide now.." Said Kaldur with a shrug. And in a flash, the teens were off.

Megan Grabbed Zatanna by the hand, dragging her into the training room. "Do you have a spell to go invisible? If so do that and what you did yesterday and we'll just float up by the ceiling invisible…it's a guaranteed win!"

"Meg I knew there was a reason we teamed up! It's so perfect!" squealed the magician as she once again squeezed the martian in an exuberant hug. She spoke the words and soon she was invisible and floating up to the ceiling, Megan grinned, going invisible and floating up to the top of the room.

_'__Alright, and we can talk through mind link, so really we just get to hang out and wait for everyone else to get caught!' projected the martian. _

_'__Have I ever told you I love you because I think this situation demands it!'_

* * *

Robin had grabbed his archers and tugged them into his room with a cackle. "Into the airvents my lovely archer bitches!~"

Artemis scoffed at him. "There are several things severely wrong with that statement. Like hell I'm going in the airvent, next thing you know you're going to suggest we start a home in there because you drag me there so often."

"As much as I'd love to see you all domestic, now is not the time Arty-Party, we need to go into survival mode and I survive by hiding in airvents, and as the brains of this operation- I decide the plans…and all these factors add up to us hiding in the airvent. Now, why don't you two put those nicely toned arms to use and open up that vent for me so we can get on our merry way to winning?" Robin finished his little speech with a smirk, and nodded towards the vent. "Get to it."

Begrudgingly Artemis moved and began unscrewing the vent cover with only a sigh of disgruntled disapproval.

Roy raised a brow, snickering under his breath. "Have you always listened to the kid who's yet to hit puberty without question, or did he train you to get these good of results-"

"Less mocking, more helping." Growled out the blonde with a snarl. Robin was cackling away, as Roy moved to help Artemis pull the vent cover off.

"You two start moving and gaining ground, I'll take care of covering our tracks…wouldn't wanna stress out your simple little archer minds, now would I?"

Artemis shot Roy a look. "Do I get disqualified if I kill a competitor?"

He shrugged. "That may be a risk I'm willing to take….."

And so the Archers began crawling through the airvents into the beyond, with silence on their lips and possible murder on their minds.

* * *

_'__GOTTA GO FAST- I have to be faster, if I just keep moving he'll never find me I am the champion, he won't know what hit him- I am the absolute boss- hear that Obama I'm swaggy- swift and taking over the presidency! I can do whatever I want- he can't catch me I am a bird- I'm the freaking bird king of freedom and speed- I'm like a jackrabbit or a cheetah- I finely tuned machine of speed. I am speed. I am Speed- I am Lightening McQueen and I'm gonna win whatever cup thing Disney came up with in that movie- because I'm the fastest boy alive. WAIT! I'll check the countdown- see how much longer I have till he gets here!'_

_'…__..still four minutes to go- ok alright ok alright this is fine I am speed and stuff, I can run for this long. It'll be perfect, he'll never catch me and I'll win and then all the team will fight over who gets to be my love interest…or maybe I'll just get a harem- I am so fast- so freaking fast. Oh look there goes Kaldur- HA SUCK IT KALDUR I'M FAST- he didn't even notice me I bet- I am a breeze of swag that graces only those worthy with my presence. He's not worthy. No one is worthy because I'm too fast. Toooooooo fast. That's me- MR. TOOOOOOO FAST! WAIT-'_

_'__Gotta check the time….Yeah, time check, see if the Supe-Myster's here yet or nah…check the time-'_

_"__ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT, three minutes. This is gonna be a piece of cake, no problem, let's do this. Hmmmmmmmmm…if I were in a mind link other people would hear this….but I'm not, so it's just me. Me, Myself and I chilling it up….. I don't need any of these guys, I'm too good for them. Robin? Ha, he thinks he's so smart, I mean, I'm smart, and fast…he's smart and short, and weirdly manipulative…there's nothing hot about that…..Wait…maybe- no NO Nothing hot….'_

_'__And Conner's just a tool. He doesn't know how to handle his rugged good looks and so he's just like some nice looking doormat, something only superficial girls are into- once they figure out he won't know what to do when they start crying they'll ditch him for me- Mr. Sensitivity….yeah- that's good…..'_

_'__Zatanna?….probably a lesbian….she's hot though, Mental Note: ha- this is all in my mind everything's a mental note- I mean "MENTAL NOTE: ASK. TO. WATCH. IF. ZEE. DATES. GIRL"….yeah that's good…good thinking Wall-ster, ok, don't think of weird hot lesbian magician sex, get your tongue in your mouth…..'_

_'__WAIT—- check the time, gotta go check the time- timetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetime?Yeah only thirty seconds left this is a piece of cake! …what t a drag…this is….this is troublesome…I'm getting bored…WAIT-'_

_'__Teammates- go back to mocking/making list of teammates you would give the honor of dating…who's next who's next MEGALICIOUS- yeah she's a babe, and she cooks which is great because I eat- I mean, we're practically soulmates….honestly, why do I even have to discuss this…..who next who next uhhh….'_

_'__Kaldur's cool…he's just…he's just Kaldur, like you do you man that's cool…..'_

_'__Roy's just a goddamn smoke show I mean really- look at that boy…really just look at him! Those arms, man make me a koala and I'll just climb him like a tree- except that's super gay so I mean I'll just ask him to work out with Rob and I and then they'll both be shirtless which is cool and NOT GAY because we're working out which is totally manly…'_

_'__I'll invite Artemis too and then it won't be gay because she's a hot girl and oh my god what if she takes her shirt off too holy shit- but she's a bitch- but she looks so good.'_

_'__WAIT- Girls are hot and nice and I wanna get all up no that- but also guys are hot and I kinda wanna be all over that too….wait wait wait wait wait am I straight? No way- am I? No…Yes…maybe….Not at all….'_

The Speedster skidded to a halt, his eyes wide in shock. "Holy shit I'm so fucking bi it's not even funny-"

"Well I'm glad you figured out your sexuality and all…but also, you're the first one to be found and I've only been her two seconds…so…you lose…but hey, I'm sure your teammates will accept the new you!" Superman gave him a thumbs up, patting him on the shoulder.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

* * *

Kaldur blinked as the scream shook the cave. "It appears Wally found Superman…."

Conner, who had 'joined forces' with the Atlantean(Meaning they had walked the same direction and were both too chill to tell the other to leave) stopped. "Don't you mean Superman found Wally?"

"No..No, that is the scream of someone who has allowed themselves to ruin something for themselves… Wally lost this all on his own, no assistance from Superman needed. "

The two nodded, going into one of the bathrooms. Conner glanced around. "The airvents, we get in the airvents we keep moving, he won't find us…"

"That seems wise." Agreed "I do not believe anyone else would think of that either, so we should go…." _If only they'd known._

* * *

**Chapter two, of course up next is 'Hide and Seek: Part 2' because I thought you guys deserved to have this at least before I spent another month finishing the chapter...so instead of one super long update you get two medium ones. I don't know if that's better or worse though...ANYWAY- reviews are greatly appreciated and also make me happy- and if you wanna favorite this thing to see what happens next that's a good course of action I'd say. Thanks so much for the support and I hope to update soon!**

**~GettingTraught**


	3. Hide and Seek: Part 2

**Hide and Seek Part 2!**

**Got this done a lot sooner than expected, but I'm still sorry for the wait. I finally figured out where I wanted this story to go as well, so there may be more crack and nonsense, but now it's with some sort of direction! I was inspired. Snow days do that for you. The thought of snow days, trashy pop music, and a nice lemon candle and really get you over any writers block. **

**Anyway, here's Chapter three, I still own nothing and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"How do they not know that the archers and Robin would go into the airvents? Does he not know that Artemis and Robin have an airvent bond? How are they so oblivious- so foolish? Hell even we know the two have _history_ in the airvents- and they're so obviously in cahoots with Roy- how are they just- just so blind to the obvious! It's just distressing and stressful- what if the groups meet and brawl, what of Clark goes into the vents? Chaos I tell you chaos!" Barry was watching the screen of live feed from the cave with passionate commentary streaming as he watched the intense game of hide and seek unfold.

Batman rolled his eyes, speaking to the speedster with a scolding tone. "They can't see what we see, plus, Kaldur and Conner are the least likely to take into account Robin and the archer's….affinity for airvents. You have to realize that while we know what's going on with all of them, they only know what they see within their group."

"But the tensions are just so…so _tense_. It's like our own little reality tv show but with drama and thriller and action aspects, it's fascinating." Barry grinned sheepishly. "Plus the tensions.."

Another eye roll from the bat. "Yes, they're tense. We get it."

"Hey Barry I got the popcorn and Dinah's on the phone with the pizza guy now- oh and Bruce is back from the bathroom which I hadn't planned on, so uh..this just got way more awkward than I'd anticipated…." Oliver gave a forced laugh, moving to 'nonchalantly' place the three bowls of popcorn he was carrying onto the table.

"You two are children.." admonished Batman with a scowl. "Absolute children."

Barry grinned. "Well you see- OH LOOK IS ROBIN FLIRTING WHAT?-" he pointed aggressively at the screen.

"_what-"_

The Speedster chuckled, receiving a high five from Green Arrow as the two settled in to eat popcorn and watch the drama as the Bat fumed at the false alarm.

* * *

"I do not think we are alone…" murmured Kaldur as he stopped Conner from taking a turn in the vent system with an outstretched arm. They paused their movements and stayed quiet. Echoing faintly through the metal tunnel systems, they could clearly hear the sound of voices- a moment later there was a cackle, and two groans.

"Robin, Roy, and Artemis are…traveling together then." said Conner with a sigh. "Of course they would go to the vents- don't you remember when the tornados attacked…Kaldur- they have_ history_…"

The Atlantean shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind. Even with them here, I feel it is best we continue on. With any luck, Superman will find them first and we can slip by unscathed. If he finds an entrance to the vents that is."

"Probably right. Let's get moving, the more space I have between me and where we entered the better." With that Conner took lead, winding his way through the vent systems. "I say we head towards the larger vents, since Robin will probably go for the most confined and small spaces there are, that way we can avoid them…"

Kaldur nodded and the pair walked in silence as the vents got smaller, forcing the two to crouch, before they widened out to a height of nearly eight feed wide. The pair had made it to the center of the vent systems, climbing through the (thankfully) still blades of the large fans that had remained unused since the weather was so mild.

"If we set up camp here, we have multiple escape routes and our chances of success would be very high…." Kaldur dropped to crouching position, leaning against one of the metal walls.

Conner nodded and sat down beside him. "That makes sense."

A moment of silence passed between them.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

And another.

"It's been nearly 19 minutes of silence…." spoke up Kaldur. "I am surprised we haven't seen any sign of superman, or any sign of the Archers and Robin.

Another moment of silence.

"But why are we competing?"

Kaldur turned to Conner, a perplexed look on his face. "Conner, I do not believe I know what you mean. We are competing because the League asked us to…it's training…"

The Clone shrugged. "But is it worth being set up against our friends. You know Kaldur, I've been watching quite a bit of television…it's shown me things."

"….shown you things? Conner, you watch the channel that shows static-"

"We don't always have to listen to _The Man_." piped up Conner with a resolute scowl set on his face.

"Conner….are you talking about Batman? Because I am fairly sure we have to listen to him…despite what Robin and Wally will tell you….."

"No- no. No. No Kaldur. No. Not Batman. _The Man._ It's like…society putting pressures on us on how to act and how to behave against each other."

"You sounds like Zatanna when she talks about the patriarchy-"

"Well she was right." interrupted the clone. "I asked Artemis about _The Man_, after I saw it on tv, and she told me that there's no way to beat _the man_…but we have to fight _the man_. She said it was a paradox or something…" he grunted. "I think Batman may be in cahoots with the man."

Kaldur gave a nod. "I think you may be right."

The two teens shared a knowing look and a nod.

Kaldur spoke again. "What do you suggest we do then, to go against _the man_? What's our plan, our course of action?"

"Well it's simple really…" began Conner as he rose to his feet. "We undermine their game. Turn ourselves in, lose first…if that's possible with wally competing…then we make signs and start our protest."

"So, now we're looking for Superman?"

"Exactly. We need to get found, and then get some art supplies."

And so the two were off to find the man of steel and begin the task if undermining _the man_, they would be the ones to take down that mysterious force. They would take down _The Man._

* * *

The Man in question, Superman that is, was making his way systematically through the cave, moving swiftly but efficiently, though he was sure to not use X-Ray vision and cheat. He was an honorable player.

He followed a good plan. He started at the Zeta Tube (after finding Wally and dealing with that emotional outburst of course) and then he started to the right, moving his way through each room and following the right most wall out of the room after he'd cleared it of any teens. It was simple but effective..he hoped.

So far he'd found no one after Wally. He was almost impressed he'd been searching for nearly a half hour and there was neither sign nor sound of the other teens. They were good, but he was better.

He was about to enter the room they used for training when he heard the sound of banging against metal, then muffled swearing, and two voices hissing 'shhh' then a few more bangs, then nothing.

"Of course- they're in the airvents…must be Robin, and the archers of course….Now to find a way in…" he began looking for a vent to enter that would be big enough for him to fit into so he could pursue his targets. "Curse my broad shoulders and masculine physique…all of these vents are too small…"

* * *

"Robin I swear to god you'd better find some wider went because I am having one hell of a time in here right now." growled Roy through gritted teeth. He was currently wiggling his way behind Artemis and Robin, his shoulders diagonal in the vent and even then he was barely squeezing through. It was awkward, his hips one way, his shoulders diagonal, trying to army crawl through, he kept hitting his head or snagging his clothes. It was not ideal.

"Stop complaining, if you can't fit, then there's no way Superman can fit, so we're in the clear." chirped Robin from the front of their little train. "Besides these ones are roomy compared to some of the one's I've been in. Man up and thing small thoughts."

"I'm sure this _would_ be a lot better if I hadn't hit puberty yet…that probably helps a lot, having the bone structure of a child I mean." said Roy as he stopped moving forward.

Artemis groaned. "Would you two shut up, Man of Steel with super hearing remember? He might just rip out the vent system ever thought of that? So put a can in it." Robin huffed, but kept moving, but when she glanced over her back at Roy he was just laying there, not moving with a very….peeved…so to say, expression on his face.

Another groan from the blonde. "Come on Roy just keep going, I'm sure he'll find us a bigger vent soon…just..come on…"

"No. I'm going back the way we came, and I'm going to make a left where we stayed straight, which will take me to a vent I can sit up in…or at least lay without having to grease my shoulders to fit. I'm done with this, besides, I can do just as well with or without this shambles of an alliance." retired the elder Archer as he awkwardly started scooting backwards.

"ROY YOU ARE NOT BACKING OUT ON ME NOW- not after all we've been through together- Hey HEY WAIT ARE YOU MOVING? YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!" Robin had maneuvered himself so he was facing Artemis and past her Roy. "Scoot over Arty I'm dragging our brother home-"

"He's not our brother- we aren't related- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Artemis shrieked as Robin began crawling over her to try and get to Roy…it seemed to be working well enough despite her panicking…until he got to where his head was at about her tailbone..then he just, couldn't really move anymore.

Roy had been watching this whole ordeal with a smirk, and was now snickering. "Wow Rob, do you maybe wanna find some bigger vents? You and Artemis seem to be rather…stuck..don't you…"

"I swear to god if you're stuck I'll kill you- Rob? ROB? Answer me you little imp-" Artemis was panicking at this point. If they were stuck, she was in the worst position for it. Dick was laying on top of her, his crotch wedged between the back of her head and the top of the vent, his legs pinning her arms out in front of her- and his head was way too close to her ass for her liking.

"It appears we have a problem…." was all the boy wonder said. Roy was in stitches laughing till he was in tears, though his slide backwards had slowly progressed..

…that was until his shoulders stopped sliding backwards. "Oh. God. No."

"Oh Roy- did you reach the junction between vents? Did I not tell you the reason we don't move backwards is because the area where the vents meet is a seam, with a slight widen from the last ten food section the one we're in now, so going backwards with hour shoulders puffed out to force your movement…it doesn't work."

"…so now we're all stuck?" hissed Artemis with a growl.

"It'd appear so…" sighed Robin…"Well this is definitely not asterious….not at all…"

"I fucking hate you." said Roy with a scowl as he and Robin locked gazes in a battle of glares.

"…so what do we do now, huh?" asked the blonde. "I'd say just cut the vent but even if you two could cut the vent in the space between you we couldn't move to get out…"

"Shhhh- Arty- SHHHH you've given me an idea! SO we're at the area between two junctions of vents right. And the junctions are where vents are attached to the ceiling since if my coordinates are correct we should be in the training room-"

"Get on with it bird boy, I'm in pain here." growled out Roy, emphasizing his word by banging his fist against the bottom of the vent.

"Easy- Easy-" soothed Robin. "Well, if we cut between you and I, this are of the vent will sag down after being cut, and then gravity will pull as out. I'm closer to the center of this piece of vent, so I'll cut it..Handy dandy watch laser comes in handy…"

"You do realize my legs are there right- You are NOT cutting off my legs Rob-" cut in Artemis frantically.

"Don't worry 'Mis, my arms are forward and I have enough mobility to reach around your legs, though when the vents fall apart you may want to prepare for some bruises as they fall and separate…"

"Just get it over with" groaned the Archers together. Any other time they would have had an argument over their voices chiming in unison but now was not the time. Both were uncomfortable and not in the mood.

"Alright- sorry if I burn you 'Mis I don't remember if there's many sparks on this thing…" and so Robin used his tiny watch laser to start cutting the vent around them. It was slow moving and nerve racking, especially for Artemis who couldn't see what was going on around her ankles due to their current position.

* * *

Superman had pinpointed the location of the children in the vents, between the bangs, their loud voices and the now active hum and spark of a laser he was standing below where they would likely fall. Likely.

_Due to the room the unfortunate teens had gotten stuck in the vents of, Zatanna and Megan had perfect seats to watch the show unfold. They had sunk to the highest corner when Superman entered, but were now just sitting watching to see what would happen to their friends. They were also trying to hold in giggles, since they were close enough to the vent that they could hear the quarrels of the 'human team'_

_"__They're so confrontational, it's no wonder their fighting got them into this situation!" said Zatanna through the mind link._

_"__Really they are! And now they're going to be found next, and lose all of it! This is too funny.." the martian and the magician shared a mental laugh. "I only hope they're ok when they fall, this room has pretty high ceilings- maybe we should catch them and out them no that ground so they stay safe-"_

_"__No." interrupted Zatanna harshly. "If we do that Superman will catch onto our gig, they're big boys and girls, they can get out of this themselves…besides they're big boys and girls, Superman wouldn't let them free fall 40 feet…probably.."_

_Megan's conscious and worries appeased, they settled in to watch the show._

Superman had moved directly below the now half cut, smoking vent, and was watching it intently. "looks like they're coming to me instead…" said the man with a smile. "Good I didn't want to get in those vents anyway."

He was about to fly up to the vent to assist them in getting out and keep them from falling when a voice and the sound of footsteps stopped him.

"We are here to surrender-" said Kaldur from the door as he entered the room with Conner. "Please come tag us and then we will be out."

"what?" questioned Superman with a frown. "You give up?"

"It's not right of you to set us up against each other. We're teammates and we're going to fight your game and _the man_. Now come tag us so we can go to the craft store." Conner stepped forward, revealing Wally sitting on the floor behind him, eating a bowl of popcorn as he watched the drama unfold from the entrance way.

"Well, if it's what you want, I can tag you…" Superman walked over, tapping Conner on the shoulder, then Kaldur, as he turned back around the vent split in two.

There was a shriek from who the rest of the team assumed was Artemis as the vent split in two, falling to hang in an awkward limp angle with about seven feet between the two ends that had been cut. They could see Artemis's feet up to about her calfs hanging out as well as Robin's hands, on the other side Roy's hands were visible. The sides had split, but so far gravity hadn't caused any sudden release.

Robin's hands curled around the edge of the now open end of the vent. "Well this worked not quite as well as I expected…we should have been shaken out by now…maybe if I pull I can get out…"

"Robin no if you get out then I'm fucking screw-" Artemis was cut off when the boy wonder managed to yank himself out of the vent, he agilely flipped onto the top of Roy's half of the vent and was no worse for wear.

Artemis on the other hand was not facing the opening and so when he got out she was dragged out with him. With no concept of what was going on around her she was sent tumbling from the vent to the floor with a shriek of terror.

The rest of the team, and even Superman just stood and watched this happen…..one of them probably could have caught her, but this whole situation was just…one you didn't interfere with.

Artemis hit the ground with a grunt of pain and a crack of resistance from her shoulder. "Of course it's over concrete and not the mats…of course…" She sat up clutching her shoulder with a hiss of pain.

From inside his vent Roy was cracking up again. "Wow Artemis, that was a graceful landing there!"

With a grin Robin jumped on the vent, shaking it violently, which was apparently just the hint gravity needed to drag Roy out of the vent and send him tumbling down straight onto Artemis.

"Shit-"

"Oww—"

The archers lay sprawled on the ground, and Robin used their bruised bodies as a cushion for when he gracefully swooped down, landing on top of them before standing and brushing off his pants as if nothing had happened.

"Well Superman, I guess you found us!~" chirped Robin as he walked over to the other members of the team, giving Superman a high five since he knew his jig was up.

It was then they heard the giggling. The giggling that obviously belonged to one Zatanna.

"Zee they can hear you-" came the voice of Megan.

"Well damn…." replied the magician in turn. "Well, they all got tagged first anyway so we win this round no matter what, might as well end it.."

Superman was helping the archers up, tagging them each as he helped them to their feet. Zatanna and Megan appeared visible and then slowly and easily descended to the ground.

"That was fun!" squealed Megan. "Let's do it again!"

Artemis scowled at her. "At least one of the bones in my shoulder's probably fractured, we are never doing that ever again."

"Don't be such a downer Arty, my landing was pretty soft-" said Roy with a grin.

"Your landing was on me asshole."

"I know, you should probably do some more toning if you're that squishy…"

"Well sorry for having internal organs that go squish- I'll get right on fixing that after I get Canary to X- Ray my very likely fractured shoulder that will make my livelihood of archery very difficult to do-" she stormed past the other archer, and past her teammates off to the med-bay.

"I'm sure she's just salty because she didn't win." said Zatanna with a smirk.

"I blame _the man_." said Conner with a shrug.

"Agreed." chorused Kaldur and Wally.

Superman blinked, staring at the teens around him. "You guys are ruthless…and a bit psychotic…wow….and I was expecting a fun game of hide and seek…."

Robin smirked at him. "You were wrong."

* * *

**There you go! This is quite possibly one of my favorite chapters I've written for just about anything, I like it...then again I also think I'm funny, I guess you guys'll have to set me straight! and you can do that through reviews! (see that was a quality segway- I'm pretty good at those sometimes you feel me?) anyway, Please please please leave a review (doesn't have to be nice I enjoy snark and advice too! Your opinions and ideas are what I like best though so go for it!)**

**I may or may not have a more serious plot based longer-ish young justice fic in the planning stages.(you know it's serious and all plot based when I actually plan it instead of having a random idea and updating randomly) it'll probably be Roy and Artemis centric, haven't decided if they'll be romantically paired or just platonically yet...anyway, that's in the works maybe..so possibly by summer you might get wind of it.**

**Thanks so much for the support and I hope you enjoyed! Find out what happens next by waiting for the next chapter!**

**Lots of Love and Laughter from me!**

**~Getting Traught**


	4. The Quiet Game

**Hey all! Sorry it took so long to upload, I actually was going to post this early this morning, but I couldn't get the chapter to load, and so I ended up downloading chrome and using that instead of Safari which is where I usually post from. I don't really know what was going on, but it was a mess, and I could post a chapter for my other story- honestly, It was just a struggle. But, here you are! The next chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

'1st: Robin

2nd: Roy

3rd: Artemis

4th: Megan

5th: Zatanna

6th: Kaldur

7th: Conner

8th: Wally'

"This is ridiculous- how come he's still in first place? We were both found after him! And the archers are still up there! What is this- " A certain magician was currently raging over the results of the scoreboard that now seemed to run the lives of the young heroes. "I bet it'd favoritism because they're fragile normal people."

Robin smirked. "Ah yes, we are so fragile. We sacrificed our own teammate's shoulder and used her as a human landing pad with minimal collateral damage and yet we are all still here competing. We're practically glass."

"Easy for you to say." grumbled the afore mentioned sacrifice. "You can't call an archer's shoulder 'minimal collateral damage' that's not even remotely ok." Artemis scowled at Robin, gesturing to the sling that was keeping her arm immobile. "Canary says I fractured my humerus…did you know that's the second strongest bone in the human body- because it is and it's fractured— because I was dragged out of a pipe and used as a landing pad on concrete. Do you even understand the level of not ok this has reached?- because it's real freaking high!-"

Wally slung an arm around her uninjured shoulder. "Oh calm down sweetcheeks, you're still in third place there's no need to get all salty about it." He was met with a glare that could have melted steel…if she weren't an average human with no superpowers…if she were Superman it would have melted steel- but that's aside from the point. It was an intense gaze of displeasure and anger to say the least.

"What's the next challenge?" inquired Megan, her question working to ease some of the tension in the room.

"It hasn't been announced yet. Guess we get a break while we wait for it…" said Roy with a shrug. "Though, you'd think Kaldur and Conner would want to be here to hear the challenge too…where are they anyway?"

* * *

"Conner…do you think glitter would be…tacky?"

"Glitter can never be tacky. The glue might be tacky, but not the glitter. Unless of course you bought glitter glue…then you just have to wait for it to dry."

"That wasn't what I meant." the atlantean sighed. "What I was trying to ask is if glitter would be…in bad taste, would it set back our purpose more than farther it? Yes, It is esthetically pleasing, but would it be cliche?"

"The Man has taught you to fear following your dreams and intuition. Follow your heart Kaldur, use the glitter…." there was a moment of silence. "is 'Repression' spelled with two 's's or just one?"

"…..'R-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N'…..two, Definitely the two…Now, would '_THE MAN HOLDS US DOWN, HOLD YOURSELF UP BY GIVING UP' _make a good sign?"

"No."

"No?" Kaldur sounded slightly dejected.

"No."

"….No?"

"No."

"Well, why not? I think it is…catchy…"

Conner sighed, shaking his head. "It isn't empowering enough. Sure, 'Hold yourself up' is good, but it still shows _the man_ as a power figure over us. Also, 'giving up' just sounds like we aren't fighting. We are fighting, its just a more modernized..cultured fight. Like Ghandi."

"….Conner…Ghandi was assassinated…I don't want to be shot…"

"No, we're the new improved Ghandi. Ghandi 2.0…we take what we learned from him and we build…see!" the superboy spun his poster around to show it to his accomplice. In large red letters it read: "_I WILL NOT FIGHT MY FRIENDS. FIGHT THE MAN. THE MAN IS NOT MY FRIEND. also superman sucks. He might actually be 'The Man' who knows. THE MAN IS NOT MY MASTER' _and in the bottom corner there was a picture of Superman's face with an 'X' over it, and a picture of Ghandi with a thumbs up next to it.

A moment of silence passed between the two of them.

"Conner…."

"…Yes?…"

"I've never been inspired in my entire being…please turn it around before I am moved to tears."

"Alright."

"…."

"Conner…."

"Yes?"

"…..Why did you need to know how to spell 'repression' if it's not used in your sign at all?"

Another moment of silence passed between the two of them.

"I need it for my tattoo design."

"You are not getting a tattoo-"

"WATCH ME."

* * *

"What are we gonna do?"

"What?"

"We don't have another task, we've only had them do like…two things- they won't stand for it."

"If we just brainstorm more I'm sure it'll be fine-"

"They're gonna start rebelling, you're teenagers I know how this works! First they get sassy, then they get angry, then they rebel. The sass has left their eyes, there is only anger- and then soon…rebellion."

"Well then just think of some game for them to play or something-"

"It's not that simple. We've given them simple tasks only for it to all end in disaster, they are truly gifted at making a mess."

The light in the conference room flicked on as Dinah entered. She frowned, leaning down to look under the table at the three men who were crouched there. "Oliver, Barry, Bruce….why were you sitting under the table in the dark?…"

"it felt safe." murmured the resident bat.

She sighed. "Mhhmm, I'm sure it did. Now, just stop complaining and give them a task to do or something, they're getting antsy….how about twister?"

"NO."

"Bruce, it's twister what could go wrong?..I mean, sure they fall and get hurt but it would be fine…" Barry looked questioningly, as The Batman sat glaring at the wall as if he was having flashbacks to a war.

"How do you not remember? The Incident. THE INCIDENT. The Sleepover…the alcohol…the twister…the…._stripping._" Bruce was raving, eyes wide as he gestured frantically in what appeared to be..distress. "_Their 'Childhood Night' How do you not remember?"_ (*Shameless plug for my story: "Childhood Night" because I'm trash, but go check it out, because if you enjoy this humor you'll enjoy that.)

As if in synch, the expressions of the adults fell into that of horror. "No. Twister is in fact not the game to be played…how about chess?" suggested Oliver, his voice low.

Bruce shook his head, "Robin's three time national champ, it'd just be unfair really. Plus it would be boring to watch…"

"Do you want interesting or safe?" demanded Dinah with a groan. "Because right now those two things are at opposite ends of the spectrum…"

There was a lapse in conversation and Barry sighed heavily, crawling out from under the table. "I really could just use some peace and quiet for once….really why did we have to set them up like this..it's more trouble than what it's worth…."

"That's it-" Bruce stood from under the table, well…more so shoving the table out of the way as he flew to his feet. "Peace and quiet- we make them play the quiet game! Whoever can not talk or make and noise the longest wins!"

"Let's type up some rules and have ourselves and nice evening then!"

* * *

With a fun little 'ding' often associated with emails from the 1990's, a message spread across the screen, covering the scoreboard.

"Here we go again." muttered Roy with a scowl.

_'The Task: THE QUIET GAME_

_The Rules:  
-No Talking_

_-No Laughing_

_-Nudity can not be used as a tactic to make other players speak. _

_Last one to NOT talk/laugh wins. _

_You start when the countdown hits 0:00'_

_Ready. Set. GO.'_

As soon as they had appeared, the rules disappeared and a clock appeared counting down from one minute.

Megan grinned, connecting Zatanna, Conner, Kaldur and herself up with the mindlink. _"Now we don't need to talk! It's perfect, and the rest of them are left out, so they'll be more inclined to talk!"_

Zatanna smirked at the other three. _"Lucky for you I know a spell so we couldn't talk if we wanted to!" _ "Ecnelis Rof Eht Thgin!" _"Now even if we wanted to talk, no sound will come out- it's flawless!"_

Conner glared at her, eyes narrowing in anger. _"We don't WANT to win, we need to talk so we can prove that this competition is crap- you're doing this against our will-"_

The girls glanced at each other and shrugged. _"Sorry, too late now.."_ noted Zatanna, though she sounded none to apologetic. _"Besides, we have to beat the regular people and you guys need to have our backs in this."_

_"Come on Conner, let's just make more signs and use our words instead of our voices…."_

_"…fine."_

The girls glanced at each other and shrugged again. _"They are SO weird."_

* * *

Those not included in the mindlike-forced-silence-squad stood and glanced around at each other until the timer hit zero. With a shrug, a smirk, a scowl, and a sigh the four 'regular teens (well, 3 and Wally but you know the non humans left him out. Though the argument could be made that Zatanna is human- BUT that is besides the point)' went their separate ways without so much as an attempted mouthing of words.

Roy headed off to the 'living room' to watch tv. It was a logical course of action really, you didn't need to talk to watch tv, you just had to sit and watch and enjoy yourself. In fact, television could make 4 hours feel like a blink of the eye full of entertainment and the potential for joy.

He settled himself on the couch, taking the rare opportunity to stretch out and have the entire couch to himself. Usually there was at least one other teen who would fight for their space on the cloudily comfort of the sofa. With a flick of the remote, the tv was on and Roy was set to cruise channels to find something mindless to watch to kill the time.

Reality TV? No, that would be something that would attract the other teens like flies to honey…surprisingly enough, superheroes or not, the teens were intensively fascinated by the raw, lewd, entertainment brought by the trashy reality shows.

A channel playing a marathon of sitcom reruns? Again, a no, the laugh track would only attract the other teens, bringing about the possibility of communication. This same reasoning cut out cartoons and any movies that were playing.

This left two other options; documentaries and the shows about cooking. Now, Roy was a sensible man, and so he realized that he didn't want to sit and listen to Paula Deen and some plump Italians talk about butter and olive oil.

Considering all these things, he settled in to watch a two hour documentary on the history of ghost hunting. It may not have been the most riveting show on the air, but the dramatizations were gory (and cheesy) enough to keep him occupied and awake.

The young archer and current title holder for resident 'angst-king' was surprised at how well the situation was playing out. He'd gone to the kitchen, grabbed a soda, returned to the couch and only had 10 minutes left in his documentary, and had lasted without any issues or signs of other people. He wasn't complaining of course, just, pleasantly surprised.

* * *

In a similar line of thinking to her fellow archer, Artemis decided that isolation was key to winning this. Not that she particularly cared about winning of course, but from the looks of it Robin planned to make her life a living hell if she followed in Kaldur and Conner's footsteps and attempted to avoid the competition.

As soon as they had started, she went off to her room, both locking and barring the door, and pushing the dresser in front of the vent a certain bird so liked to enter through, adjusted her sling, and crawled into her bed. She plugged in her phone to the pair of soundproof headphones she'd been forced to invest in after dealing with Kid Mouth's snoring next door in the first week of sleeping over at the cave, and with some soothing jazz melodies and the feeling of sweet _sweet_ isolation she drifted off to sleep and hoped to remain that way until they had an actual mission to complete.

* * *

Wally wasn't a man who handled silence well. The team had so affectionately dubbed him 'Kid Mouth' for that very reason, but he'd be damned if he came in last again. He had to move up the leaderboard, and the only real way he could do that now was by winning this round. His strategy was a bit…overdramatic, but he was sure it would be effective.

He'd sped throughout the Mountain, gathering his supplies and then he'd shut himself up in the rarely used bathroom next to the med bay. Locking the door with a silent snicker he sat in front of the mirror and began his work. First, he shoved a pack of gum into his mouth, chewing enough to get it to it's full gummy capacity, he arranged it between his teeth and gave himself another reassuring nod. _'No matter how gross and flavorless this gum will become_' he thought to himself, _'this plan has got to work._' Next he took the roll of duct tape he'd snatched and placed a large piece over his mouth, firmly sticking it in place. Next he placed one of the medical masks on, then another piece of duct tape, securing the mask more intensively to his face, and then to finish it off he tied a bright yellow bandanna over the mass of tape and gauze and gum.

He looked like some slightly bloated bandit wannabe, but there was no way for him to talk, he tried opening his mouth to no avail and shot himself a look that would have been a grin if he were able to move his mouth.

There was no way for him to fail this, he had this on lock- this was in lock down- he was so prepared for this. He was confident! He was self assured! He was so prepared for anything-

….he was starting to get hungry.

* * *

If there was anything to say about Dick Grayson, it would be that the child is more slippery than an eel, He prided himself in always being the smartest guy in the room and he was always more devious than anyone around him was ever really prepared to handle.

He was secure in 1st place, and he intended to end there as well, but, that didn't mean he couldn't play dirty for the next round in order to screw over some of his allies that had been doing a little too well.

Sure, in the beginning he'd intended to make a pact, and he'd followed through on that part, but really, they were doing too well, and it was too much work to watch out for two frumpy archers who obviously didn't have the drive for this sort of competition. They would hold him back in the long run, and that was something he simply couldn't afford.

Robin played to win.

He was also a man(boy/child/emotional mess) who knew when sacrifice was in order, and for him to win in the long run, he would have to screw over his closest friends. He still had, two more rounds after this to make up for it….not that he planned to….really they were just doing too well and if a little 'excesiveness' occurred it would allow him to push his more skilled competitors down the ladder.

Now, time to go do some backstabbing.

* * *

_"Meg, hun, I love you to death, but if you think-sing one more Taylor Swift song- I will literally banish you to another dimension."_ Zatanna was scowling at the Martian in question, who was now pouting quite intensively.

_"Sorry, she's just so catchy…and I feel like she really just, gets me, you know?"_

_"You're a Martian girl, on a team of teenage super heroes, and you have the potential to turn someone's brain to mush…..Taylor Swift is a talented pop icon and cat lover…."_

_"But Zee- her lyrics speak to me!"_

_"That's the point of pop music- it's supposed to speak and appeal to everyone, it's what makes it 'pop'ular music."_

_"You're just huffy because you aren't half the lyricist T-Swizzle is."_

_"…Megan…..I'm a magician, I don't claim, nor want, to write music. …..and for the love of god never say 'T-Swizzle' again…I'm begging you here…."_

_"….fine…"_

* * *

Robin strolled into the main living air, a grin on his face and a skip in his step. He leaned over the edge of the couch, grinning down at Roy as if the archer were his next meal. He may be a bird at heart, but right now he was the cat about to get the cream. Reaching forward he took a hold of Roy's hand, which caused the other teen to give him a stare that quite obviously said 'what are you planning?'

With a silent cackle and a grin sweet enough to give you a cavity, Robin took a hold of Roy's pointer finger and bent it back until there was an unnerving 'crack' against the hubbub of the documentary.

"Shit- What the fuck Robin- what the hell are you doing?-" He jerked his hand back, examining his finger with a scowl. "This is why we don't hang out with you- it's because get psychotic when there's any sort of competition involved- chores and no training is not worth putting up with this shit- especially with you running around breaking my fingers!"

**"Red Arrow, is out of the game."** came the voice of Red Tornado over the intercom.

Roy stormed off, shoving Robin off the back of the couch onto the floor as he made his way past. He banged on Artemis's door as he passed. "Watch it, bird-brain my try to break your other shoulder to get you to talk." Though of course, she didn't hear him over the noise canceling headphones and the smooth jazz.

He went to the med-bay and wrapped up his finger, scowling the whole while. "This is ridiculous, why do I put up with this-"

* * *

_"That's it-" _exclaimed Kaldur with a grin. _"Zatanna stopped us from talking- not from laughing! If we laugh, then we'll still be disqualified and we can still stick it to the man!"_

_"Roy already lost, so we need to step up out game before we get bumped into the top ranking. So, can we just force ourselves to laugh? Is that….physically possible?" _asked Conner.

_"We won't know until we try." _

The two shared a glance, and as a pair let out what could only be described as a forced choking sound which transitioned to a cough, then a loud barking noise and finally into a pair of two very forced very monotoned laughs.

They sat and looked at each other, glancing back and forth in silence.

**"Superboy and Aqualad, are out of the game."** announced Tornado again.

_"Well…that was far easier and far more awkward than I anticipated it to be..now we just get to sit in silence until Megan and Zatanna want to let us speak again.." _Kaldur sighed. _"Opposing The Man, is a lot of work Conner…. is this going to be worth it in the end?"_

_"We have to believe. If we don't believe, then there will never be change or progress.."_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"Do you want to go put puff-paint and some sequins and crystals on our posters and signs?"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"Yeah. Let's do it."_

* * *

Starvation had set in. There was no possible way his stomach wasn't currently digesting itself- at this point it was probably working on his liver or spleen as well…before you knew it he'd just by a black hole sucking in everything around him because this challenge was going to _kill him. _

Wally had waddled (quite unhappily) to the kitchen and sat on the floor, hoping that by some miracle being surrounded by food would allow him to satisfy his unending hunger. He slouched against the cabinets, clutching dramatically at a towel. _'This is where I die-'_ he thought. _'Alone in the kitchen- I'm going to starve to death in the kitchen.'_

He let out what would have been a choked sob, had it not been for the general obstruction of the mouth, so he just sort of lurched forward, eyes glistening with unshed tears. _'I haven't even done anything to deserve a documentary yet- I can't die here-' _

The light patter of footsteps brought his gaze up to the familiar sunglasses covered face of his dearest friend. The speedster reached a quivering hand out, his eyes pleading. Robin raised a brow, strolling over and ripping off the duct-tape/bandana/mask combo with a single pull.

Wally spit out the gum and clung to his friend's leg. "Oh my god- I thought I was gonna die here Rob- I got tunnel vision TUNNEL VISION- can you believe it? Thak god you showed up-"

**"Kid Flash is out of the Game"**

"I don't even care- I'm so happy to be alive!" he pried himself off of Robin's leg and grabbed a granola bar, shoving it into his mouth before moving to rummage through the pantry. Robin shrugged, walking out of the kitchen. _'That was easier than expected_.

* * *

_'Mis, 'Mis, 'Mis….you have got yourself barricaded in very nicely… unfortunately you leave me no choice…walls are easy to fix, right?' _Robin shrugged, the walls were metal, so plasma torch would be best…other than that he would figure it out as he went…maybe.

* * *

Artemis knew something was wrong when a burning spark flew onto her face. Her eyes shot open, headphones off in an instant. She fell into a low crouch on the bed, watching as a trail of sparks flew out from the wall across from her bed…like someone was cutting through the wall, and the room on that side was Robin's…plus he was the only one psychotic enough to try an _cut through the wall. _She scowled, moving to remove the obstructions from the door, she slid out as silently as she could, not that anyone would hear her well concealed footsteps over the sound of- was that a buzz saw? who knew- over the sound of whatever the hell Robin was using to ruin her life today.

She made her way into the room with the scores displayed, all of the guys name's (except for Robin's) had been turned red, which she assumed meant they were out. At this point, Artemis decided it wasn't about winning. It was about taking Robin down in a very painful very harmful way. Due to her shoulder she was off duty for the next two months. _Two months_ without missions or training other than runs and physical therapy because Bird-Boy wants to win the dumb game. And now her room was being vandalized as well, this had all gone to far.

Leaving the scores behind, she found Wally devouring everything in the kitchen, she managed to grab a soda before heading to the couches where Roy was sitting glaring at a bandaged finger. She raised a questioning brow. He scowled. "Robin."

That was all it took, she nodded and curled her legs up under her, watching the tv, which was now a documentary on the creation of the submarine. She was waiting, not to win, she was waiting for Robin to come poke his nose in to try something again. Someone needed to put that child in his place, and despite the protest her shoulder made when it was jostled she was going to take him down, healthy shoulder or not.

It didn't take long. Robin came strolling in from the hall leading to the bedrooms, a smirk in place. He perched himself on the edge of the couch, watching Artemis with the same look he'd given Roy earlier. She met his stare with he most unamused scowl imaginable.

He reached a hand out, going to grab her bad shoulder when she intercepted, grabbing his wrist with her good arm. His grin spread and he reached out again, but she was faster- deciding the head first direction was best.

She slammed her forehead forward, hitting Robin directly in the nose- which gave a satisfying crack and knocked him off the arm of the couch onto the floor. "Ow-" he froze as the word escaped his lips, clutching his nose, which was dripping blood.

**"Robin, is out of the game."**

Artemis smirked. "Check Mate.

**"Artemis, is out of the game."**

Roy leaned over and the archers shared a high five with their respective good hands. Artemis looked smugly at Robin who was still clutching at his nose, trying to stop the flow of blood. "A broken nose can be nasty, I'd get that looked at if I were you. Then again, considering…I think it's just minimal collateral damage, don't you?"

* * *

**Ta-da! Another chapter down! I really hope you enjoyed, and remember, leaving reviews is like giving me a lifeline to write! Thank you all for all the support!**

**Until Next chapter-**

**~GettingTraught**


End file.
